My dieting obsession wrecked my gut — then one change healed it.

I grew up with an easy relationship with food. No calorie counting, no cutting carbs, no obsessing over my weight. Then I moved abroad to study — and within six months I'd gained thirty pounds and lost every bit of the confidence I used to take for granted.

The harder I dieted, the worse it got

I did everything you're "supposed" to do. Intermittent fasting, keto, juice cleanses, paleo, going plant-based, tracking macros, counting every single calorie. Each one delivered a short burst of change, and then it all came back. These systems ran on willpower and sacrifice, which is exactly why none of them lasted.

I felt like I was doing it all right and still getting it wrong — and that fractured my relationship with food. I was exhausted, confused, and constantly thinking about what I should or shouldn't eat.

By twenty-four, my gut had had enough

Years of swinging between restriction and bingeing wrecked my digestion. I was bloated, gassy, inflamed and constantly uncomfortable, with cramps and chronic gut issues that left me drained. Eventually it was serious enough that I went through proper investigations, which turned up H. pylori, a common stomach infection, treated with antibiotics.

But the line that changed my life came from the gastroenterologist overseeing my care. He explained that the deeper problem wasn't only the bacteria — it was the acid-forming nature of how I'd been eating, built up over years of poor nutrition and yo-yo dieting, and feeding the reflux, the gastritis and the IBS-style symptoms. Then he introduced me to alkaline nutrition. Once I understood the science, everything clicked.

What actually changed

I researched everything I could and applied it to my own life. Within two months I lost all thirty pounds I'd gained — but the part that mattered more was that my gut started to heal. My skin and hair were the first outward sign: clear, glowing, healthy in a way they'd never been. The people around me noticed my energy before they noticed my size.

No diet had ever told me this: weight loss isn't only about what you eat. It's how you live.

The honest science of "alkaline"

This is where the alkaline diet gets a bad name. You cannot meaningfully change your blood's pH through food — your body regulates that automatically and very effectively. Any plan that promises to "alkalise your blood" is selling you something.

That's not what I mean by alkaline. When your body is clearing excess acidity — which often shows up as inflammation — it draws on alkaline elements like vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to neutralise and remove it. Those come from food. So "alkaline principles," to me, means eating more antioxidant-rich, anti-inflammatory foods that give your body what it needs to do its own job better. That idea is widely supported and uncontroversial across nutrition science.

Why I pair it with the Mediterranean

A strictly alkaline diet is punishing — too many foods off-limits, too much effort, not sustainable. So I kept the most effective parts of alkaline eating and married them to the Mediterranean way I grew up with in Turkey: vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts and seeds, plus eggs, fish, whole grains and good olive oil. Foods that are nourishing and that we actually love.

That balance — alkaline-supportive and acid-forming foods together — is what makes the Alka-Terranean® method realistic. There's no calorie counting. I don't dictate when or how often to eat. And no food group gets banned, because restriction is how you lose both your results and your nutrients. It's not about extremes. It's intelligent nourishment that works with how the body is designed to function.

Weight loss can actually feel good.

alkaterra brings the Alka-Terranean® method to your phone — a coach you tell what you ate, who shows you how to balance it. No counting, no banned foods, no guilt.

Get alkaterra on iPhone

Adapted from Selen Gulbahce's interview with The Sun. Wellness coaching, not medical advice — results vary, and you should see a healthcare provider for gut symptoms or before changing your diet.